Android Wear now does voice calling, speech dictation from major apps

Ladies and gents - the future is now. Or at least it is for Android Wear users.

Android Wear supports voice actions and gestures so you can get things done while hands-free, but it's just expanded those ways, including adding new features that let you make calls and send more messages with just your voice.

Keep in mind that in November Android Wear updated with support for wrist gestures. The idea was that - beyond swiping on the touchscreen - you'd now be able to flick your wrist around to navigate on your watch. Wrist gestures are on by default on most watches, but to make sure they're enabled on your device, wake your watch, then swipe left, and scroll down and touch 'Settings'.

Anyway, with today's update, you can navigate your watch with new gestures. To scroll up and down your card stream, flick your wrist. You can also expand a card, bring up your apps, or return home to your watch face with a push, lift, or shake, respectively. But that's not all: you can now use your voice to send messages from apps like Google Hangouts, Viber, WeChat, and WhatsApp.

To send a message with your voice, say something like: “OK Google, send a WhatsApp message to Stu: I’ll be there soon.” Alternatively, you can now just make/take calls over Bluetooth or even listen to your messages with apps like Glide, as Android Wear has added speaker support. But you'll of course need a watch with a speaker, such as Huawei Watch and the Asus ZenWatch 2.